Intro to blog

Hey guys,
This is my first ever blog so I figured I would just give a short intro before I wrote anything on here. I'm 23 years of age and am currently in my second year of graduate school at the University of Kentucky. I'm studying Health Promotion and should graduate in May of 2009. Don't ask me what I plan on doing after that because I do not know, haha.

I started competing in triathlons in 2005. The previous year was a horrible year for me when it comes to running. I stayed hurt the whole year and I slowly picked up swimming and biking to try and maintain fitness. I only raced once or twice that whole year which was a first for me. I decided over the winter that I would do several triathlons in the upcoming year. I started to swim a little more during the fall of 2004 and I also bought my first road bike. It was a 2004 Trek 1500 road bike, which I still own to this day.

This is now my 4th season competing in triathlons and each year has been filled with it's ups and downs. I just got my feet wet in 2005 by finishing well in most of the triathlons that I competed in. I raced in mostly local races and relied on my run to catch everybody since my swim and bike were average at best. 2006 was a breakout year for me because it was my first year racing Nationally and Internationally. I finished 8th in the 20 - 24 age group at my first Age Group Nationals in Kansas City. I went on to finish 17th in the same age group in Switzerland at the Age Group World Championships. After my 2006 season, I got a coach by the name of Beth Atnip. She is still currently coaching me and has helped me achieve all of my success. 2007 was a hard year for me due to the amount of disapointments I had. I got injured early in the year, had flight troubles while traveling to nationals, and only raced 5 or 6 times. In that last race of the year (in August, which is extremely early to end a triathlon season), I managed to qualify for the US amateur team for World's in 2008.

This year has been my best season by far. I was picked up by an "elite" amateur team before the season began. It's the "Mideast Region Elite Team." I started the year off really well by finishing 8th overall at Collegiate Nationals and then 4th overall (elite amateur) the next weekend at St. Anthony's. My training has gone extremely well all year with very little setbacks. I went on to finish as the 2nd amateur overall at Memphis in May (losing by 4 seconds). In June, I traveled to Canada to compete at the age group World Championships (duathlon due to water conditions) and was able to to win the 20 - 24 age group and finish 12th overall (if I remember correctly). I finished as the 1st amateur overall at the Waterfront Chattanooga Triathlon, 2nd amateur overall at Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 (another duathlon due to water conditions and also my first 70.3 distance race) and 3rd amateur overall in the elite amateur division at the Accenture Chicago Triathlon.

This year has been extremely exciting. Not only because of the success I have had in my many races, but also because I qualified to turn "pro." Next year will be my first year as a "professional" triathlete. No, that does not mean that I'll be making a lot of money, right from the start. All of the money I will initially make will be based on my success at races. Being a "professional" pretty much means that I'm elgible for the prize money, which is usually not given to amateurs.

I am currently getting back in the swing of things with school starting back only 2 days ago. I am teaching 4 classes: Beging Swim, two Aerbic Lap Swimming classes, and Preparing for a Half Marathon. I am also taking 9 hours worth of graduate courses and lifeguarding at the aquatic center on UK's campus. I am currently training for the U.S. Open Triathlon in Dallas on October 5th and the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, FL on November 8th.

Thanks for reading.

T